Speak Now
by bjaarcy
Summary: In the short time Hannah's been back, Bones realizes that she can't have Booth marry her. Songfic to Taylor Swift's Speak Now, canon, eventual BxB, but bear with me for some BoothxHannah! Rated T for explicit events and words. ON HIATUS
1. She's Back

Hello! Uhhhm, this is my take on what could happen if Hannah came back and said yes to Booth's proposal. I've been toying with this idea for a while now and I don't really plan on making it too long. I mean, I'd write it all right now but I simply don't have the time. Oh, and, as promised, there WILL be BoothxBones awesomeness, so you just gotta bear with me for the BoothxHannah stuff right now k? Kcoolbro. So yeah, hope someone enjoys it x3

Disclaimer: I do not own Bones or Taylor Swift's Speak Now. Shit man, if I did, I'd be a fucking millionaire. Or, at least, I'd have a shit load more than I do now xP

PS This is my first Bones fic, don't hate!

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><p>Booth rested his elbows the bar's counter, one hand clasped around his glass and his other supporting his heavy head. He ducked his head and sighed. He reflected on how he'd been slumming at the bar more often, usually by himself, downing various drinks.<p>

It's been a few months since Hannah turned him down and Booth hasn't quite been able to bounce back yet.

Bones has been trying to help him cope since then. But with Bones, being Bones, that meant that she never quite said the right thing. Bones was trying her best with her sympathetic side. When it came to the topic, she was always trying to use her natural logic and reasoning with her recent discoveries of feelings and love. Booth could tell that she really _was_ trying her hardest not to let her more blunt opinions slip out. He knew that she knew he was hurting really bad, and Booth was actually quite proud of Bones' efforts in trying to become more compassionate.

Though, as much as he didn't really want to admit it, Booth kind of missed the harsher, colder side of Bones. He wished that sometimes she didn't bite her tongue back when she wanted to say he was being stupid over the entire thing, which Booth assumed was Bones' honest opinion about the situation. Booth wished that she reasoned with him and said that, perhaps, his decision was foolish and made too quickly. He wished that she reasoned that, perhaps, maybe Hannah wasn't "the one" for him. He wanted his friend – scratch that, _best _friend – to keep his emotions and feelings at bay with her intellect and fierceness. He wanted her to be mad with him. And although Booth knew he was sure to snap at her and get outrageously angry at his close colleague at one point, he wondered if it would actually help him in the long run. Booth always thought about whether arguing familiarly with Bones could actually help him cope with his rejection from Hannah. He momentarily wondered if the anger that was fueling inside him could easily be put into use by fighting with her. He _wanted_ to get angry and to scream and shout, and, at one stupid and scary point, he didn't care if it was at Bones. But Booth knew that meant he would be using her and that she probably may never want to speak to him again. And he absolutely did not want to lose his relationship with her because of something he was stupid enough to do. At one point, Booth actually wanted to punch himself for even _thinking_ about the stupid possibility.

Booth took another sip of his drink, loudly smacked his glass down and sighed again. He stared through the glass' translucent material, through the miniscule bubbles that were popping at the surface, and furrowed his brows slightly.

Besides, it wasn't like screaming at Bones would help him get over Hannah any easier. It wasn't like the opinions Bones bit back were going to help his healing process quicken and hurt less. He truly _did_ love Hannah. And Booth wasn't the type to get over things that quickly. He didn't get over his son's mother that easily, and – although Booth was _so_ not willing to admit it – he was actually still trying to get over Bones. This meant that Hannah was no different in any sense. Booth still believed in true love, despite what Bones tried to convince him otherwise, and despite how much he failed when it came to love and lasting romantic relationships. Call him a flake but Booth truly _did_ believe that, somewhere out there, was someone there for him. But believing in that didn't quite help his situation with Hannah.

"Oh _wow,_" the bartender called out suddenly, his voice sounding very appreciative. The tone in his voice interested Booth enough for him to stop thinking for a moment and turned his attention to the situation at the moment. "Now _there's_ a sight for sore eyes," the bartender continued, clearly sounding like he was admiring whatever he saw.

Booth stared up at the bartender, who gaze was fixed at the front door. Soon, the bartender looked back down at the glass he was cleaning and blushed (Booth figured that whoever was at the door met his gaze). Booth looked over his shoulder to the front door, turned back to his drink, then immediately did a double take. He stared at the beautiful blonde woman at the front door as he turned around on his stool, leaving his drink behind.

She was in a light jacket, jeans, black leather boots, and a frilly scarf that she began to unravel from her neck. Her gorgeous blonde hair flowed down either side of her face and was topped off with a dark maroon beret, which, after removing her scarf, she pulled off her head. But none of these things seemed to register to the usually observant FBI agent. Instead, he was focused on other things about her. His eyes lingered over her mysterious gray ones, which seemed apprehensive as she searched the bar, not yet able to meet his gaze; he briefly stared at her plump, pink lips, which were pursed and still looked way too kissable; he ignored the jitters in his stomach as he recognized her adorable nose, the same one he used to kiss before he said goodnight.

"_Hannah?_" Booth called out hesitantly, and then her eyes finally met his.

Booth gulped. No way this was happening. He was drunk. This had to be some sort of wonderful, crazy, drunk hallucination. Or maybe he was dreaming. He _had_ to be dreaming. Yes, Booth was dreaming right now. He dropped dead, drunk on the bar from one too many drinks tonight and was dreaming… right?

The woman smiled shyly. "Hiya Seeley," she replied. Booth held back a gasp and clenched his jaw; he knew that voice well. After all, he spent many glorious months hearing it scream his name from excellent sex.

No way.

The agent blinked for a moment, stunned.

"What, Seeley? You're not even gonna give me a hug?" Hannah teased, opening her arms as she walked over to his stool.

Booth was vaguely aware of his body reflexively standing up and opening his arms. Even as he hugged his ex-… girlfriend? Lover? Fiancé? (Booth still didn't know what to call Hannah after their break up)… he wasn't quite sure that this was his life right now. Finally, something snapped in him as Hannah's arms wrapped around his neck and Booth realized he had to get with the program.

"Oh my god!" Booth finally said, his arms snaking around Hannah's waist. "Wh-what, Hannah! Why are you here?" he sputtered.

Hannah went stiff in his arms and gently pulled away. She gave Booth a tight smile and stared into his eyes for a moment. Booth wasn't quite ready for the amount of emotion that soared through him as he looked back into Hannah's eyes. Hannah's mouth twitched and Booth remembered this as her signal saying that she was a little overwhelmed. Booth motioned over to the seat next to him and Hannah relaxed into the stool as he slipped into his seat once more.

The bartender called out from behind the counter, "Havin' anything hon?"

Hannah gave Booth a closed mouthed and more relaxed smile as she answered the bartender without turning to look back at him, "No. Not yet anyway." Booth was vaguely aware of the bartender nodding and going back to arranging the mugs and glasses; he was too busy watching Hannah peel off her jacket and folding aside with her other accessories on the bar counter to notice.

After a moment or two, Hannah shot Booth an amused look and leaned against the bar counter, using her elbow as support. It was then that he realized that he'd been staring at her, jaw slightly dropped. Booth blinked hard and shut his mouth.

"So, uh, how-how're things with you?" Booth finally stuttered, still completely flustered with Hannah's presence.

Hannah gave Booth a tight smile before answering, "Good." Booth didn't like this short answer, so he nodded for her to continue and Hannah took a breath. "God," she finally said, exasperated. "I-I don't even know where to start!" she admitted honestly, looking down with a sheepish smile and resting her head against her hand.

"You can start with why the hell you're here then, since I know for a fact I saw you reporting back in Afghan less than 2 weeks ago," Booth replied with a nervous laugh.

Booth didn't like how the mood seemed to shift from surprising with a natural comfort to anxious and generally awkward from Hannah's confession. He needed to lift that atmosphere off of them, even if it was just for a while, so he gave Hannah another smile, this one a little more confident and sweeter than his recent laugh. Besides, what he said was true. Booth _had_ seen her – completely by accident of course (Booth learned that watching his ex report on TV wasn't helping him bounce back) – on TV, reporting from Afghan about another roadside bomb. He needed to know why she was here because Booth still knew he knew Hannah well enough to know that she wasn't just going to leave a job that she loved unexpectedly for just anything.

Well, Hannah _did_ leave for Booth before, when they were together. But… no. She wouldn't leave for him again. Not after the awkward and bad break up they had.

Booth's attempt at relieving the mood worked and he forgot about his recent thoughts. Hannah chuckled quietly and Booth relaxed as she began again. "Well," she said quietly, turning away from him for a moment. "I just… I need to talk to you," she finally answered, meeting his gaze.

Booth gave her a nervous smile, beginning to get uneasy again, as he looked into her eyes. "Well, we're talking right now," he responded carefully.

"That we are," she agreed with a lazy grin that used to, and apparently still did, drive Booth crazy. Hannah turned to the bartender, who was at the other end of the counter, for a moment. "You know what? I think I'll have a Bud. Light, please," she ordered. Booth turned to the bartender and saw him give her a quick nod before getting her drink ready.

At the beginning of this night, the FBI agent expected that he was going to drink to drown his feelings and get a cab home alone. But now, he was here with alcohol _and_ with Hannah. He knew that things were going to get interesting, as they always did, whenever he was with her.

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth felt the warm sunlight peeking through his curtains against his face quietly grunted. He heard a hushed giggle behind him and felt warm, soft arms weave themselves around his bare stomach. He felt someone shift behind him and press their body against his back.

"Hey," he heard a girl whisper, "Good morning."

Booth muffled a groan into his pillow. He was incredibly groggy and was pretty sure he's having a hangover right now but he was beginning to understand his surroundings. Right now, he was naked, someone's arms were around him and that same person was softly whispering to him as they nuzzled against his back.

Then he remembered meeting Hannah last night and everything clicked.

Booth abruptly turned around, surprising the other person in his bed. He kissed her then, and began to try and recall the events that happened the night before.

As Booth began to kiss down her neck, Hannah chuckled. "Looks like someone's glad to see me," she commented as she readjusted her arms to hold Booth even tighter.

"Of course I'm glad to see you," Booth murmured against the skin of her shoulder. He still wasn't sure how or why they ended up on his bed, but Booth didn't care much about it other than the fact that it did. By now, he figured that he had sex with Hannah earlier and this made Booth bite lightly on Hannah's collarbone. He felt a boner coming on his is southern area.

Hannah brought her left hand to Booth's face and pulled it towards hers. Then, she began to kiss him softly. As Booth moved his lips familiarly against hers, he realized something cold pressed against his face and her hand. He reluctantly pulled away from the kiss and cupped his hand over the hand Hannah had on his face. In his palm, he could feel something with edges and hard graze against him. Shocked, Booth pulled her hand from his face and looked at her fingers. In Hannah's ring finger was a ring. A big, clear, perfectly cut diamond securely placed onto a silver band. Booth gulped, it was the same ring he originally had for Hannah when he first proposed to her. And now it was on her finger…

Booth looked at Hannah, his expression begging her for an answer. Hannah smiled slightly. "I gotta say, Seeley, it's perfect," she declared as she pulled her hand towards her face to inspect it. Her smile turned into a teasing one then and Booth shot her a look. She giggled and finally answered, "You don't remember, do you? Well, after a few…" Booth heard he quietly mutter the word "dozen" under breath before beginning to continue speaking properly, "drinks, you said you had to be engaged to me properly. And that you wanted a ring to prove it. I said it didn't matter, but you insisted! So, we got a taxi and he drove us back to the river where you proposed to me – against my wishes! – and you jumped in, drunk!"

Booth could feel the shame creeping up his face and he could feel the heat easily spreading across his cheeks. He had a faint memory and jumping into cold, hard water, searching for a small, black box but always coming up with a stupid rock. He wanted to hide his face, but he wasn't really in an easy position to do so.

"Honestly, I was amazed you found the box at all! It was so dark and we were so _drunk_ and…" Hannah trailed off, shaking her head. "The point is, I knew you didn't have the money to buy another ring, so when I offered to pay for it this time, you refused and decided to get the original one. And, well, here it is!" she finished, proudly holding up the ring in front of his face.

Booth flushed. What he, apparently, did was crazy enough, but the fact that he only had a very faint recollection of it did not help his embarrassment. Then, something occurred to him. Hannah said, "engaged to me properly." Engaged. He was engaged to Hannah?

The agent blinked and asked, "Wait, we're-we're engaged?"

Hannah mocked an offended look and said, "Seeley, I'm hurt. You don't remember proposing to me again?"

Booth picked his brain for any memory of the passing night as Hannah wove her arms around him once more. He clearly remembered Hannah coming into the bar and chatting with her. He remembered Hannah talking to him seriously, about how she just couldn't forget the year they had together and how she couldn't let go of him that easily. He remembered the warm happy feelings he had when she said she was sure she never felt that way for anyone else before. He remembered her clearly saying, "I-I want to do this right, Seeley, for you." Then he remembered feeling crazy jitters in his stomach when she said, "I-I wanna marry you." He remembered stumbling onto his knee and slightly slurring out, "Hannah Burleyyy, will you marry meee?" He began to recall having a few – yes, it was a dozen – drinks with her in celebration when she excitedly said yes. He was recollecting a memory of kissing her passionately in the bar, in which they received hoots and hollers from the patrons who were there. After that, things went groggy since the effects of the alcohol suddenly took over his senses, impairing Booth from anymore memories.

He looked at Hannah in fascination because, here she was, with a ring on her finger, to prove that, yes, agent Seeley Booth was engaged to the wonderful Hannah Burley.

Booth didn't reply to Hannah's earlier question and instead kissed her passionately on the mouth. He curled his fingers into her hair and pressed himself closer to her. After Hannah's arms untangled themselves from Booth, her hands started to roam his torso. By now, Booth realized that Hannah's sexy body was naked too, and he wanted to take advantage of this. Booth kicked his leg up and began to straddle her, trying not to let his weight completely crush the blonde. Booth was already hard, and he was about to slip his erection into Hannah, but Hannah pulled her lips away from his and gently pushed his body of hers by a small inch, panting.

Before Booth got a chance to ask why she pulled away, Hannah brought a quick finger to his lips. She smiled sweetly and whispered, "Not yet." Booth wanted to question her again but she beat Booth to his chance at speaking by continuing, "No. Last night was good, hell, it was fucking _awesome._ God, Booth, you went crazy!" Booth blushed madly as she laughed, not quite able to remember what happened other than they had sex (and, apparently, really _good_ sex), but she ignored him. Hannah shook her head momentarily before she got to her point, "The point is, it's enough to hold me over until later tonight, okay? You have work today and I've got to explain to my boss what's going on." She smiled apologetically and Booth reluctantly nodded.

"You-you'll be here later, right?" Booth asked hesitantly, tumbling off of Hannah's body and rested by her side. He looked to her intently.

Hannah nodded and relief washed over the agent. "Yes, I'll be here Seeley." She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips before raising her left hand to show off her ring once more. "Engaged, remember? I'm not leaving you anymore."

Booth couldn't think of another time he was happier in his life.

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><p>Ah, finally! IT'S DONE! :D I shall continue soon, hopefully, if anyone actually likes this x3 If you do, I'll warn you now: I'm jumping into Hannah and Bones' confrontation. But yeah, I'm not even 30% sure I'm right with how the ring looks like and where Booth engaged to Hannah because I find it irrelevant towards my love for BoothxBones xD Anyways, I hope this was good, I hope I stayed as canon as possible, and I'm really sorry for not quite remembering how Booth proposed to Hannah! Review and faves equal virtual cupcakes so DO IT! ;D<p>

x o x o bjaarcy


	2. Confrontations

Hello! :) Before I start, I just want to say how epically pleased I am with the feedback I got from the first chapter! I'M GLAD YOU GUYS LIKE IT SO FAR :'D Also, I feel horrible for making you guys waiting for so long. If I could have helped it, this would have been posted on the season 6 finale – but that obviously didn't happen ;( Anyways, without further ado, here is Bones finding out about Hannah and Booth, and the girls' confrontation on the matter. I'mma letcha know now that it's a bit dramatic for it to truly be canon in my opinion, but whatever x3 Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Bones or the song Speak Now! And I don't think I'll be owning either of `em any time soon xP

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><p>Bones was examining the mandible of a John Doe's skull. She already identified with Wendell that whoever the skull belonged to was a white male in his mid-40s. They also discovered that – according to the perimortem fractures on his second, third and fourth ribs – John Doe was hit with a blunt object to the ribs (clearly) and that he was hit with such force that his ribs ended up cracking into his body, piercing his lungs and heart. Hodgins was examining John Doe's clothing and the maggots that were found on him right now, as to figure out a more exact time frame for time of death. But Temperance was competitive, and she wanted to figure out an accurate time frame before Hodgins did, so she put down the lower jaw and then began to examine the rest of John Doe's cranium in an attempt to figure out what else had happened.<p>

So absorbed in her work, as she was wont to do, the anthropologist didn't even hear Cam step into the lab.

"Dr. Brennan?" Cam called out hesitantly, and Bones immediately looked up to see her boss.

"Yes?" she replied, setting down the skull she had in her hands.

Once she observed Brennan put the bone back on the table, Cam asked, "May I have a word with you in my office?" Cam clasped her hands together behind her back and patiently waited for Dr. Brennan's answer. "Don't worry, it'll just take a minute or two," she added.

Brennan glanced at John Doe's skeleton lying on the table in front of her before deciding that, yes, she had a moment to spare. Smoothing out her lab coat, Temperance replied, "Yes, of course." She nodded and motioned towards the door, "Lead the way."

Cam turned on her heel and started towards her office, Bones stepping in time right behind her. When the women entered the large, open office, Cam took a seat at her desk and Bones obediently stood in front of her.

"So, what do you need to address to me?" Temperance finally asked.

Cam pressed her lips together and her mouth twitched several times, as if she wasn't quite sure how to phrase what she had to say. Even though Bones wasn't so good at catching social cues like she was at catching even the tiniest of cracks in one's phalanges, she was still able to pick up that Cam was nervous about whatever she had to announce. This made Brennan anxious and she became apprehensive of the entire situation.

Clasping her hands together in a formal matter as to distract how impatient she was becoming, Bones asked again, "Cam, what is it?" Bones wasn't aware of her eyes narrowing just a bit and her body going slightly rigid from the wait and suspense.

Her boss let out a puff of breath before finally answering, "Have you heard anything from Agent Booth lately, Dr. Brennan?"

Bones' eyebrows furrowed in confusion and her frame drooped a bit, though it wasn't in relief. _What's going on with Booth?_ she thought frantically. She hadn't heard from him lately, but that was because, since they both respected each other as partners and as friends, they mutually agreed to keep their distance sometimes. And, besides, they spent so much time together thanks to their work that they both needed some time apart too.

"No," Brennan truthfully answered, "He hasn't come in yet and I haven't heard from him since yesterday afternoon." Then, Bones began picking her brain for any information that she needed about Booth to figure out what was going on. She immediately omitted everything about her relationship with the FBI agent up until the past few days, figuring that when Cam said "lately" she meant some time within the past week. Nothing significant seemed to stick out to Bones, but she backtracked and double checked just in case.

But Bones' thoughts were interrupted by Cam, who then questioned, "What about Hannah?" _Hannah?_ Brennan thought in surprise. Cam must have seen her confusion, because then she added, "Hannah Burley. The news reporter who Booth used to date?"

Brennan's eyebrows furrowed even more. She was surprised but puzzled. Thanks to her break up with Booth, no one had seen Hannah in months, except for the television since she was a reporter. Bones picked her brain again, and searched through her memory for anything about Hannah concerning the past few days. Unsurprisingly, Brennan came up blank, because she hadn't even _seen_ Hannah reporting on TV in the past week, much less heard anything about her.

"No," Temperance repeated, because it was true.

Cam pressed her lips together in a thin line but her eyes betrayed her thoughts; something – _bad,_ for the lack of a better word – was going on. Bones caught this and instantly became troubled. _What was going on with Hannah? Why did it concern Booth?_ she questioned to herself. Temperance didn't like being dramatic because it was childish and completely unnecessary, but as she began to hypothesize her thoughts immediately turned to worst-case scenarios. She _was_ human after all, she briefly reasoned to herself, so it was okay to think unreasonably _sometimes._

Bones realized after a few moments that Cam had yet to introduce the situation. So, she pressed the matter even more, "Cam, what is going on?"

Cam pursed her lips before finally answering, "Dr. Brennan, Hannah came back last night."

Temperance blinked a few times in surprise. _Oh!_ she thought delightfully. Bones hadn't known that Hannah was returning, but she was pleased by it nonetheless. Though she didn't mention it Booth for obvious reasons, Bones had actually missed Hannah since her departure. Temperance had always enjoyed Hannah's company and the anthropologist often found herself longing for another casual lunch with the reporter, as they got accustomed to doing during their time together. Brennan knew that she still had Angela and Cam and her other friendly coworkers to spend time with, but Bones shortly realized that after spending some time with the blonde, hanging out with her was actually quite refreshing. She got to exchange anecdotes about her time in Maluku, and, in return, Bones got to hear Hannah's daring tales of her time in Afghanistan. They often gossiped about Booth as well and shared their concern for him and his relationship with his son too. In short, Hannah was a great friend to Bones, so the anthropologist was not startled _at all_ about Hannah's return. In fact, Brennan realized, she was actually quite glad about her arrival.

"Really?" Bones finally answered. "How wonderful! I should call her up and make some plans to meet her!" she said enthusiastically, meaning every word.

Bones was already stepping towards the door of her boss' office, ready to make calls to Hannah, when Cam spoke up once more. "Dr. Brennan, I don't think you understand what I'm getting at. Hannah came back last night to talk to Agent Seeley."

But Bones already had figured out this much. Stopping at the door of Cam's office, she easily replied, "Of course she'd come back and talk to Booth," then shrugged. By now, Bones was getting irritated by her boss. Why was Cam being so hesitant and nervous? It was just Hannah. So what if she wanted to come back and talk to Booth? It would make sense: Hannah probably wanted to make peace with Bones' FBI coworker.

Cam sighed and looked down at her desk in exasperation. With careful, wide eyes, she finally met Brennan's gaze and confessed, "Dr. Brennan, Hannah came back last night and talked to Booth to propose to him."

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

Hannah sat in her seat, unknowingly looking breathless as ever as she casually flipped her golden hair. She was waiting for Temperance on an outdoor table in what used to be (and apparently still was) their favourite lunch-or-brunch restaurant. Seeing the anthropologist was one of the things that had taken a high priority on her list of things to do once she returned to DC, right after proposing to and fucking Seeley.

The blonde reporter had missed her caramel hair coloured friend when she was back reporting in Afghan. Okay, mostly because she missed having conversations with someone who didn't own a pair of genitals. Don't get her wrong, Hannah didn't hate the men she worked with, but she liked having "girlfriends" too, and her female coworkers generally avoided her. And though Hannah wasn't vain or shallow or got off it or anything, she knew that they avoided her because she was the only one who had any semblance of a perfect life for a free woman. Hannah was allowed to be careless because she didn't have anyone home waiting for her, leaving her to take up most of the more dangerous newscovers while they were in Afghan. Most of Hannah's coworkers were held down because of other commitments they had back in their home countries. And while they always said they wanted nothing more than to go back home to their beloved ones, Hannah was still able to see the envy in her coworker's eyes whenever a particularly dangerous (but equally exciting) piece came up and Hannah was the only female left to report it.

Aside from now receiving some much needed female interaction, Hannah actually liked talking to Temperance. She liked how straight up her brunette friend was and how clueless she could be sometimes. They hadn't talked to each other since the blonde's bad break up with the FBI agent (though that was more for his sake, so Hannah and Temperance had silently agreed without actually meeting to break their friendship off), but that didn't meant the blonde enjoyed it.

Hannah sipped on the ice tea that she ordered a few moments ago while she waited for her scientific friend. Temperance had to be coming at any moment now. They agreed to meet at 12:10 sharp and Temperance was never late. (Though, Hannah noticed long ago that Temperance never came early either. She just appeared on time, punctual as ever.) The blonde glanced at her watch, which read ten past twelve on the dot. She looked into the distance, looking for any sight of her friend's caramel coloured hair and – there she was – crossing the street to make her way over to the restaurant.

When Temperance finally reached Hannah's table, the blonde stood up with a smile and opened her arms to give a hug to her friend.

But the reporter never got to give that hug because she was cut off by the anthropologist abruptly asking, "You proposed to Booth?" Her tone was not angry, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either.

"Uh, hello to you too, Temperance," she replied instead with a surprised grin on her face. She dropped her arms and took her seat. She motioned for her friend to do the same in the seat across from her and Temperance sat down after a quick moment.

"How did you even find out?" Hannah asked, hiding the fact that she was a little upset because she wasn't the first one to tell the anthropologist.

"Booth told my boss, who then told me," Temperance quickly explained once she sat down. "Well, _did_ you propose to Booth?" the anthropologist pressed.

"Looks like someone's anxious," the blonde joked with a slight chuckle. But before long, she finally answered, "Yes, I proposed to Seeley last night! Well, actually, he re-proposed to me, and I just accepted." Hannah smiled brightly and held up her left hand, the ring her fiancé retrieved on her ring finger. Hannah didn't miss the way that Temperance eyed her ring. Whether the anthropologist was impressed or not, she couldn't tell. "So, we're engaged!" she announced happily, even though the blonde was pretty sure that her brunette friend has already figured that out.

Temperance tore her eyes away from Hannah's hand and met her gaze. She blinked. "Oh," she simply said, her expression unreadable.

"Is that a good 'oh' or a bad one?" Hannah asked tentatively as she dropped her left hand to her lap.

"Is there a difference?" the anthropologist countered, looking confused. The reporter laughed at how much she truly missed her friend and her lack of social knowledge of the most common and simplest of phrases.

"I guess not," Hannah replied with a smile.

Hannah was about to raise her hand to wave down a waiter so she and Temperance could take their orders, but was interrupted by the brunette asking, "Why are you engaged to him?"

Hannah turned to her friend, her expression questioning and asked, "Because I love him?" The answer was a little obvious, so she threw Temperance a weird smile to shake off her incredulousness and raised her hand again to wave down waiter.

"But you didn't want to marry Booth before, that's why you broke up and left," the anthropologist insisted.

_What's with all these questions?_ Hannah thought to herself as she dropped her hand again. Out loud, she said, "During my time in Afghan, I realized that I really loved Seeley and that I wanted to be with him. I told Seeley even before I left that things weren't over with us, and when I realized that I really did love him, I realized that things could never be over with us if we just got married. That's why I'm marrying him."

But Temperance just blinked and countered, "You said you'd never get married though."

By now, Hannah was getting fed up with her friend's interrogation and it took all her energy not to snap. She took a deep breath and replied, "Well, that's love for you: you make exceptions for the ones who really care about."

Temperance looked at her in disbelief. "I've told Booth this before, but that's very irresponsible. I care about many people but I do not make such drastic exceptions. If not, everything would be chaos," the anthropologist offhandedly replied.

"Yeah, well, love makes chaos worth it in the end. Just like how Seeley's making dealing with this damn wedding worth it in the end," the blonde huffed. Hannah really did not want to think about the _actual_ wedding just yet. She didn't want to think about how it was going to be, who in her crazy family would have to be invited – she didn't want to think about planning it, period.

Temperance raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you getting married if you don't want to deal with the wedding?"

"God, Temperance!" Hannah finally snapped, her voice reaching a volume of near indecent, "I _love_ Seeley, okay? I love him enough to want to _marry_ him, alright? Now, if you would be so kind as to stop the cross-interrogation?" She looked desperately to her friend, only feeling a tinge of regret for snapping.

"But I just don't understand!" Temperance said, her voice matching the volume of the blonde's, "You left Booth and broke his heart because you couldn't handle the long term commitment of marriage. I don't see how it's going to change this time around!"

Hannah gasped. "But I've changed!"

"That's highly improbable. You can't just discontinue a belief that's stuck with you for a long time, if not your whole life. It's human error to think one can change within a few months. It's too drastic and, again, highly improbable," the much-too-scientific brunette argued.

"Temperance, that's a bunch of bullshit," Hannah simply replied.

Now Temperance was the one that gasped. "It is _not_ 'bullshit'!" she exclaimed, and the blonde was annoyed at how she could clearly hear the quotations around the word "bullshit". "It's a fact!"

But Hannah just sighed, exasperated. "Stop _hiding_ behind your stupid facts, Temperance! Just accept that I've changed, and that I love Seeley enough to have changed!" The reporter blushed a bit and immediately muttered out a quick "sorry" to the waiter that was giving her questioning looks.

"But you can't just love Booth 'enough'. You have to love him with everything; that's how Booth is. You don't understand how much pain he was in after you left Hannah. Booth might have been able to put up a front and fake it in front of everyone else, but I know him better than that," Temperance finished in a quiet voice, looking down into her lap. When she looked up again, she said in a defiant voice, "I can't have that happen again."

"Well, it's not going to happen," Hannah confirmed, her volume was brought down since she initially snapped, and crossed her arms. She was offended that her friend would even _think_ about her trying to hurt the FBI agent again.

"I don't believe that," the brunette simply answered. Then she continued, "Booth was doing fine before you came back Hannah, and I was helping him get through it. I don't want our progress to be ruined because you decided you've changed, only to leave him again."

"Temperance," Hannah said in a steely voice, "I am _not_ leaving Seeley, okay? I'm not going to ruin whatever 'progress' you made with him and I'm going to make him love me again." The reporter could hear the distinct tone of possessiveness in her voice, but she ignored it. "Oh wait, I don't have to make him love me, because he already does!" She waved her left hand in front of herself, emphasizing the fact that she had an engagement ring.

"Hannah, you're being childish. Stop that!" Temperance angrily commanded, pushing down the blonde's left hand.

Hannah dropped her hand back into her lap before sighing. After a deep breath, she said, "Temperance, I just don't understand why you keep asking me questions about my decision to marry Seeley. I love him, okay? You just have to accept that he loves me too, and that we're getting married."

The caramel haired anthropologist dropped her head for a few moments. Then, she whispered, "What if I don't want to?"

"What?" Hannah asked. She knew her ears didn't deceive her, but she needed to ask anyway.

"I said," Temperance began again, and then her pale blue eyes met Hannah's gray ones, "what if I don't want to? What if I don't want to accept your marriage? What if I can no longer accept your relationship, just as I can no longer deny the fact that… that I love Booth too?"

The blonde huffed. She knew it. She _knew_ that Temperance had a thing for the FBI agent, no matter how platonic she always claimed their relationship to be. It was hard to ignore the fact that the anthropologist loved Seeley, and that she loved him much longer than Hannah had, but she was _not_ about to let the reason why she moved back taken away from her.

"I knew it," she finally said aloud. "But Temperance, while you may love Seeley, I do too. And he chose _me._" The blonde stood up and gathered her things. "I don't think it would be best if we talked to each other for a while. I'll call you… maybe."

And with that, Hannah dropped a few bills to pay for her tea and stormed out of her seat and onto the streets, leaving behind her (now ex?) friend behind at the restaurant.

* * *

><p>… God, that was a bit dramatic, wasn't it? And the dramatics aren't going to end anytime soon xP I hope it doesn't taint the story for you! Anyways, I truly <em>am<em> sorry for not being able to update for, like, two months D; I really don't have an excuse for that. But I already have the third chapter coming up (which will hopefully be posted tomorrow) and for the next few days I will be updating on a bi-daily to daily basis to make up for lost time. I just want to remind you again that the story won't be long, but I still hope you stick around to see how it goes! Reviews would be love :D

x o x o bjaarcy

PS How'd you guys think of the sixth season for Bones? I thought the finale was EPIC! :'D


	3. You are not the kind of boy

_I am not the kind of girl_

_who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion_

_**But you are not the kind of boy**_

_**who should be marrying the wrong girl**_

__-==========-_========== o / o ==========-_==========-__

Temperance Brennan was never one to pace. She always believed that pacing mindlessly around a room was pointless, immature, and a waste of time and energy. "It's a completely useless action, an ineffective way to distract one's self," the anthropologist once explained to her coworker. Dealing with the problem, instead of worrying around a room, was always a better solution in her mind.

But as she made a 180 degree rotation to avoid hitting a wall for the fifth time, and continued to walk stubbornly around the room with crossed arms, she began to think otherwise.

_Stop pacing,_ Bones commanded herself, but it didn't work. She continued to pace around her office.

Bones immediately retreated to her office as soon as Hannah left the restaurant earlier that day. First of all, because Temperance lost her appetite, so staying at the restaurant would have been a dim move. Secondly, because she needed to think. She was shocked that she said what she said back at the restaurant with Hannah. Bones never acknowledged her feelings towards her partner outside of her own mind, let alone announcing them out loud in a public area. The anthropologist was near horrified of the situation. But she still had a bigger problem at hand.

Did she mean what she said to Hannah? Would she not accept Booth's relationship with the reporter? Did she actually _love_ Agent Seeley Booth?

Brennan huffed and blew a bang out of her eyes' vision. Then, she brought a hand to her chin and thought hard. But it was all pointless because the answers to all these questions were plain and simple.

Yes, she meant every word she said to the blonde at the restaurant. No, she would not accept her and Booth's relationship. And lastly, yes, she loved Booth.

She loved him a lot, actually.

And she loved him for quite a while.

"Dr. Brennan –" a cut off voice that came from Bones' door said.

Temperance turned to the woman at her door. It was Angela. The half-Asian beauty was still big but glowing, stunning as ever as she stood by Brennan's door. Her pregnancy had taken her for a spin, which was obvious to the anthropologist as she could see the tiniest hint of dark circles under her friend's eyes. But the same eyes were now trained right at Brennan, and she knew that Angela could feel something was up.

Bones wanted to hide that fact anyway.

"Yes, Angela?" the caramel haired woman asked in an even voice, hoping to distract her friend from the fact that she was stuck in a serious predicament.

Angela looked at Bones perceptively, her eyes analyzing the anthropologist for a second too long. Finally, she asked, "Honey, is something wrong?" Brennan began to open her mouth to deny the statement (because there was nothing really _wrong,_ there was just too much for her to handle at the moment), but was immediately cut off by Angela saying, "Sweetie, don't lie to me."

Bones was momentarily taken aback, and she furrowed her brows to throw an incredulous look to her friend. _I wasn't _going_ to lie…_ she briskly thought, and she shook her head.

"Angela, I don't lie," Bones simply stated in a steely voice. "Lying would be an ineffective way to properly deal with a situation."

The half-Asian grinned somberly at her friend. "I know, sweetie. Just wanted to make sure, I guess," she explained. Angela continued to grin at Brennan and the anthropologist couldn't help but smile back.

"Was there something you needed to address, Angela?" Bones asked carefully, trying to escape the Montenegro's worries. Bones was still stuck in her situation, but that didn't mean that she had to drag the artist into it too.

But apparently Angela made that decision for her, because she immediately replied, "No, no, nothing that can't wait. First, _you_ need to tell me what's going on. And don't even _try_ avoiding the situation, honey. I'm becoming a mother now, and I've got senses like a hawk. Just tell me what's happening."

Brennan actually considered lying to her friend for a split second then. But, again, the anthropologist never lied. And it seemed that Angela really was not leaving until Bones told her what was going on.

_Well, it's not like Angela's going to gossip about it,_ Bones reasoned, _Perhaps telling her would be beneficial._

"Step inside, Angela," Brennan gently commanded. "Oh, and close the door behind you," she added as an afterthought. There was no need for anyone else to listen in anyway.

The Montenegro stepped inside and closed the door behind her, as she was told to do. When she entered the room, Temperance decided to take her seat at her desk and motioned for Angela to step in front of her. Angela walked to the front of the anthropologist's desk then, an expectant look on her face once she met Brennan's gaze.

"Well?" the half-Asian pressed.

Bones pursed her lips for a moment, trying to gather the words to explain her situation. Finally, she took a breath and began, "I'm sure you've heard Hannah and Booth's reunion and engagement by now?"

Angela nodded tentatively. "Yes, it's all everyone's talking about," she confirmed.

Temperance nodded at this. _This was to be expected, right?_ Right.

Then why didn't it hurt less?

The caramel haired woman took another breath. "It's related to that," she finally confessed.

Angela nodded slowly, looking anxious to hear more. When Bones refused to immediately add more to her statement, she asked, "And?"

Brennan sighed. "I don't approve of their engagement," she finally said. She didn't give the whole truth, but most of it was still there. The anthropologist hoped this was enough for her friend to figure out the rest of it, as she did _not_ want to explain the rest out loud.

"You love him, don't you?" the pregnant woman asked, her tone kind and not-at-all judgmental. Her expression was soft and her eyes were looking at Brennan's as if she already knew the answer.

"Yes," was all Bones said, her frame dropping a bit from the stiff posture she's apparently had for a while. She tried to keep her expression as unreadable as possible, but Angela could apparently see through it because she waddled over to Brennan behind her desk and bent over to give an awkward, one-armed hug. Bones relaxed a little more into her friend's arm and took a shaky breath. "An-Angela," she began again, wincing at the fact she stuttered, "I don't know what to do."

And Temperance really _didn't_ know. She didn't know how to handle her feelings, which is why she suppressed them for so long. She couldn't handle the amount of non-platonic emotions she felt towards the FBI agent. She had always denied herself the chance to love him, as she also denied Booth the chance to love her back. Bones knew she couldn't handle the fear that was associated with her being in a relationship, which is why she _never_ considered being in one. Sure, she went on a few dates sometimes and she's had sex before, but Temperance was afraid of commitment and how both parties would be affected if something went _wrong._ She knew she'd never be able to forgive herself if something happened. The fact that she had a chance at that with Booth just firmed her resolve to push him away.

But Booth staying with Hannah? That didn't sit right with the anthropologist either. She couldn't stand aside as the man she loved was going to get married. Especially not with the woman who left him high and dry with a broken heart. Bones had the feeling Hannah could never provide the love the agent deserved, the love he'd been searching for in Bones herself. Don't get her wrong, according to Booth, Hannah was an excellent lover and was a great companion during their time together, but Bones could feel something slightly missing in their relationship. And Temperance wanted to believe that she could fill that missing area. She wanted to be the lover that Booth would boast about. She wanted to be his companion. She wanted _him,_ all of him, for as long as he'll have her. She didn't want to deny herself that chance anymore, even if that chance was no longer available.

The artist just held Bones throughout her entire epiphany, not daring to speak a word as to not interrupt her thoughts. Bones was grateful for this and took a deep breath. Again, she asked for her friend's advice. "What do I do?" she questioned, her voice much more level than before.

Angela took a moment before speaking. "You should talk to him about it. Then, you should think about what's gonna happen if he says yes, and if you can handle that," she suggested. The Montenegro's words sounded much wiser than her years, and in any other situation Bones would scoff and disregard them. But now, on uncharted grounds she never thought she'd be on, Brennan took the words to heart and nodded in response.

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Bones," Booth began carefully, "is something bothering you?"

Bones was sipping her coffee quietly, and stopped mid-gulp at her partner's question. They were currently in their favourite diner, taking a much needed coffee break together. They had just recently solved the case of 40-year-old John Doe (whom they identified as a Fred Whitman) and put his murderer (a woman who was identified as his ex-secret lover) into custody. It's been about a week since Booth's recent engagement with Hannah and Bones' talk with Angela. Booth _did_ mention his engagement to Bones the afternoon after Hannah and Brennan's failed get together, and she did offer a simple congratulations and a fake smile. But that didn't mean the anthropologist came to terms with how she would react if Booth went through with his impending marriage. And she certainly had yet to bring up the topic with the FBI agent once again. Not that Booth was helping the situation: he mostly kept to himself about the actual wedding, more ready to boast about what a lucky guy he was to finally have Hannah to himself. Bones always tuned her partner out whenever he did this.

But, despite this, now seemed like a pretty good opportunity to bring up the subject with her coworker. When would be the next opportune time? Probably never. Bones finished her gulp of coffee and set her cup down, letting her gaze follow the drink. She shook her head before looking up to meet Booth's eyes.

"Nothing is… _bothering_ me," she answered carefully, "More that something is on my mind."

"Well, what is it Bones? You know you could tell me anything. You've done it before," the agent replied, looking at her anxiously.

Brennan returned her gaze back to her coffee and furrowed her brows momentarily. How was she going to phrase this? "You and Hannah," she began carefully, "how are things going with you guys?"

Booth looked at her with a curious and slightly suspicious look on his face before answering, "Things are –… well, they're good." Booth brought his cup up to his mouth and took a quick sip from it before continuing, "We're getting married, you know that."

Bones nodded and met Booth's gaze. "How's the wedding planning going?"

At this, the agent looked surprised. "Uh, they're-they're going okay. Hannah's doing all the planning. Why?"

"I just –" the anthropologist began, but, truthfully, she didn't know how to finish it. Brennan clamped her mouth shut and looked at her partner with hard eyes. Then she amended, "I thought you would be more of an active participant during the planning. Shouldn't you be helping her out?"

"I could say the same for you," Booth easily countered, and it did not slip past the anthropologist that he was avoiding his answer. "You and Hannah were close before, and I kind of expected you to be more enthusiastic enough about our engagement to help her out with the planning. But Hannah hasn't even mentioned seeing you since she came back," he said. "What happened?"

Bones looked at her partner with an unreadable expression. "Things changed," she simply stated. Brennan wasn't _lying_, per say; she still told the truth, even if it wasn't all of it. She noticed then how much she'd been doing that lately – it was more than she liked.

"Bones," Booth pried in a stern voice, clearly becoming wary of the situation now, "what happened?"

"We got into an argument," the anthropologist confessed, not meeting her coworker's eyes. "She told me not to speak to her until she contacted me since." That last part was completely true at least.

"Bones, tell me the truth," he commanded.

The caramel haired woman shot him a controlled look. "That _is_ the truth. And this doesn't need to involve you Booth." _Well, more than it has already,_ she amended internally. "This is between Hannah and me." _For the most part._

"_You_ are my partner and _she_ is my fiancée, Bones," the FBI agent shot back, "_That's_ why it needs to involve me. Now, I want to know how and why it does."

"It doesn't need any more of your participation, Booth! It only involves you because you were the cause of our argument!" Brennan angrily replied. Then, she gasped. She shouldn't have said that.

And the shocked look Booth had on his face confirmed her hypothesis. "You – the argument was about _me?_" he asked in an incredulous tone. Booth's face screwed up into an equally incredulous expression. "Bones," he began again, "you need to tell me _why_ you were arguing about me. And I don't want you to give me any half-ass truths; I want to know _all_ of it."

Brennan huffed and shot her partner daggers with her eyes. She was angry that he demanded this from _her,_ when he could easily ask his _fiancée_ the exact same thing. She was angry because he accused her of half-lying (okay, that _was_ her fault, but she was still angry about getting caught). She was angry that she was stuck in this situation now, all because of her irrational feelings.

"We were arguing about you because she doesn't deserve you, Booth. Hannah left you broken-hearted and I know better than to have believed your fake smiles about the situation. I was helping you get through it and then you just tossed that away to be with Hannah again. She told me that she changed, and I told her that it was impossible to have changed within a few short months. And then she demanded that I just accept your sudden engagement even though I think it's a completely irrational choice. And when I told her I couldn't accept that, she told me not to speak to her and walked away," Bones confessed angrily, the words spilling out of her lips. She didn't even have the chance to think about what she was saying before the words began pouring out of her mouth.

Now, Booth was the one giving an unreadable expression. He seemed to take his time comprehending the situation. After what Bones knew was _not_ eons, though it had certainly felt like it, he finally spoke. But, to her surprise, he asked a question she was not expecting. "Why can't you accept our relationship, Bones?" the FBI agent asked, his tone sounding close to what the anthropologist could only describe as broken.

"Booth, I –" she stopped herself. Temperance ducked her head, feeling ashamed of what she was about to say. She had pushed Booth time and time again away from her, too afraid of what could happen if she truly opened up to him. What would he say about what she feels now? "I care about you," she quietly confessed then, her voice barely over a whisper.

"Bones," her partner said in a somewhat relieved tone, "you know I care about you too."

"No," the anthropologist cut him off before he could continue, "Booth, you don't fully understand what I'm trying to explain." She looked up and met his gaze again. "I care about you, a lot. And in a way I should have cared about you for a long time, but I was too scared to admit it." Brennan's pale blue eyes searched through Booth's brown ones, and she could see a hint of… something. She couldn't quite place what she saw, but she knew that it made her stomach churn uncomfortably. The anthropologist took a deep breath.

"Bones, I…" The agent took a long while before finishing his sentence, "I don't know what to say. I-I care about you too, a lot. But I can't just leave Hannah. I –" Booth immediately stood up and climbed out of his seat, pulling a few bills out of his pocket to pay for his coffee. "I think it would be best if we remained strictly as partners right now, Bones. I – I don't know… I can't do this."

And without another word, Booth left Brennan, leaving this the second time the anthropologist was left sick to her stomach in a restaurant within a week.

* * *

><p><strong>WARNING: LONG AUTHOR'S NOW (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO READ)<strong>

Well, that was REALLY dramatic! So yeah, if you haven't noticed, I am slowly but surely transitioning out of canon personalities and making them all uncanon. I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone D; Hopefully I can get back to canon in the next few chapters, but I'm not making any promises! Anyways, I'm also really sorry for not putting this out sooner; updating on a bi-daily to daily basis is hard ;/ HOWEVER, I actually have a reason this time, and that reason is that I had some family events to attend to, so don't kill me! Also, since Angela is pregnant here, I should mention that this takes place season 6, post-episode 17 but pre-episode 23. Yeah, just wanted to clear that up xP

Now, I need YOUR help. I've already mentioned that this story is going to be short, and it is, but I'm wondering how short I should actually make this – which is where you come in. I'm thinking about writing a chapter or two of Hannah and Booth planning their wedding or something. BUT, I am super lazy and somewhat reluctant to do it. If anyone DOES want me to write it, I will happily do so for your pleasure. If not, I'm skipping right over to the day Booth and Hannah are getting married :3 So, basically I'm asking if you don't want me to skip right over to their wedding – an answer in the form of a review would be nice ;p

Anyways, I hope you're enjoying the fic so far! And again, reviews would be AWESOME! :D

x o x o bjaarcy


	4. Surely not what you thought it would be

_I sneak in and see your friends_

_**and her snotty little family all dressed in pastel**_

_And she is yelling at a bridesmaid_

_somewhere back inside a room wearing a gown shaped like a pastry_

_-==========-========== o / o ==========-==========-_

Hannah was panicking.

Currently, the blonde was on her way to Seeley's apartment, driving his car since he said it was totally okay for her to borrow it. She was grateful to say the least; at least she was able to get around without having to use public transportation, especially because of the wedding.

Hannah gripped the steering wheel as she thought about what she had left to do. She had about a billion things to go over: a cake to check, a dress to wear for the final measuring, guest lists to look over, decorations to perfect, and so much more. And there was only _two weeks left_ till the wedding took place. And considering that she was the only one preparing the wedding (Seeley tried, he really did, but he got much too lost once they reached invitations), it didn't exactly help her lately snippy mood. All the decisions had to be made and confirmed by her, with Seeley just nodding along his head to agree with (and avoid) everything.

The reporter sighed once she pulled up into the basement garage, and she thought about how she was managing with planning the wedding all alone. Again, it wasn't like Seeley didn't try; he really did want to help! He just… couldn't. It overwhelmed him a little too much and Hannah understood. It was ironic to say the least: here she was, the woman who vowed not to get hitched and yet she was the only one planning her wedding. She couldn't exactly get her coworkers from Afghan to come over for a few months to help her plan the damn thing. Then again, it wasn't like they'd _want_ to help her out; if they avoided her in Afghan because they envied her freedom, she could only _imagine_ what they'd think about asking them to help her out with her wedding.

It generally _sucked_ that Hannah didn't make many friends during her time in DC. Her fellow coworkers here were as boring as the assignments she was given and she never spent much time with them. And outside of work, Hannah didn't spend time with others because she had her hands full with Seeley and Temperance.

Oh God, _Temperance._

Hannah groaned internally as she started up the elevator towards the apartment. She hadn't spoken to the anthropologist since their argument at the restaurant months ago. She told Seeley to avoid the caramel haired woman as much as possible too. It was a horrible thing to ask; she knew that and she beat herself up too many times to count about it. But there was no way she was letting her fiancée go. Seeley told her as soon as they met up one day that Temperance confessed her feelings for him, and something in Hannah snapped. She resolved that cutting Temperance Brennan as much as possible from their lives would ensure this engagement. If Temperance was serious about not being able to handle her and Seeley's relationship, Hannah suspected that the anthropologist would find _some_ way to break them up. Granted, it was a childish assumption, but Hannah couldn't shake the feeling that her fiancée's coworker was actually capable of it. And there was _no way_ that she was having the FBI agent taken from her that easily.

At least Seeley was able to comply. He didn't go down without a fight, of course. Seeley clearly said "it was wrong and it did _not_ sit right with him" and he and Hannah had a huge, week-long fight about the concern. But Hannah was eventually able to convince him that it would be better this way. She said she'd send Temperance an invite once everything was ready and that they could have the anthropologist back in their lives once they were officially married. Seeley reluctantly agreed but… though she never told him… Hannah never sent the invite. She was so stressed as it was it actually _slipped her mind._ Not that she cared much once she realized (but she'd never admit it to Seeley). Not inviting Temperance, Hannah promised to herself, would be the last thing she would do to stop the anthropologist from breaking her and Seeley up. And after that, she'd apologize profusely and let the caramel haired woman back into hers and future-husband's lives.

Still, the act bothered her every now and then and… it just did _not_ help her stress and anxiety towards the wedding.

And all that pressure didn't even include all the crap from work that was starting to pile up. Her sudden return only led to her having to catch up with everything that she missed around DC when she was gone. The fact that she never found the pieces she was assigned to very entertaining did not help her distaste towards her work.

Not to mention, her family was beginning to pour in from around the country. Her parents came in yesterday and were staying at some Hilton hotel downtown since Seeley's apartment couldn't hold them; this could be said for the rest of the family that she invited.

God, her family. They were the reason why she avoided weddings at all.

The Burley family was, simply put, a big, and equally wealthy, family. They all had some sort of wealth from at least one parent having some sort of successful, 6-figure-salary career. The money they had, and therefore the money they could get, was in proportions that most people would call indecent. But that didn't matter to the Burleys, no. They all flaunted their wealth, always in competition with one other relative about who went where, and who got what, and always who spent how much. They were also the type of family where each individual sibling (in Hannah's father's side, at least), had a family of their own, with sizes matching that of a professional sport teams. Hannah had 6 other siblings herself, her being smack in the middle of two older brothers, one older sister, two younger sisters, and one baby brother.

Once she was old enough, she never bothered keeping up with any of them; not her own immediate family and certainly not her other relatives. She was the black sheep of the family, why should she?

Hannah was never comfortable with the amount of money her family had. Add to the fact that they all flaunted it certainly never sat well with her. And add to _that_ fact that there were literally _dozens_ of her relatives all doing the same thing did not help the situation at all. The reporter had countless memories of attending family matters where all she would do was sit in a corner, alone, because she felt so uncomfortable around her family. And then when she found her passion, which was – great shocker! – _not_ in the 6-figure-salary industry, her family saw it fit that there was something… _wrong,_ with her. Hannah didn't mind this, of course she didn't. She never liked much of her family as it was, so she didn't need their approval for anything. Once she graduated she cut as much ties from her family as possible and vowed to not speak to them unless complete necessary.

Of course, once in a while, the blonde relented and came to a few major family occasions. A few Christmases for one, and obviously every wedding where she was _somehow_ part of the entourage. You see, Hannah wasn't _completely_ bitter towards her family, and the fact that she _did_ attend a few of those major family events meant that it was only fair that they'd also be invited to her wedding.

Hence, the reason why she avoided getting married. Well, there was also that "I'm-never-getting-married-because-I-am-a-free-spirit" bit that was also true, but her family made the decision for her early on.

Though, when Booth brought up the conversation of their guest list, Hannah couldn't exactly _lie_ to her fiancée…

**-x-x-x-**

"Uh, Hannah?" Booth suddenly asked one day.

The reporter didn't look up from her laptop. She was in Booth's apartment's den and her fiancée was standing at the door of the room. Before she was interrupted, she was researching hard for a decent place to get a wedding dress. Honestly, her wedding was in _two and a half months_ and she had yet to find a dress. Goodness.

"Mmm?" she replied, still typing away on Google, looking for a decent dress shop anywhere near DC.

"We still haven't – uh – discussed the guest list," he stated.

Hannah groaned internally; externally, she took a deep breath. She'd been trying to avoid that topic for quite a while now.

Trying to deflect that she was really dreading this conversation, Hannah turned and faced Seeley. "Well, in can't be that hard, can it?" she said with a sweet, fake smile. "Come here, we can start naming people and I can type them into my laptop."

The FBI agent nodded and took a seat next to her. "So, do you –"

"You can go first," Hannah quickly, but very subtly, said, turning back to her laptop screen. No way she was going to sort out who in her family to invite. Maybe she could just tell Seeley they didn't want to come or something…

"Hannah?" her fiancée called out then, snapping her from her thoughts.

The blonde faced her fiancée. "Yes?" she asked, trying to cover up the fact that she hadn't been paying attention for the past few minutes or so.

"Baby, you haven't typed in _any_ of the names I've given you," Seeley lightly replied with a soft smile, nodding towards her laptop which still had her Google window opened.

Hannah turned back to her laptop and blinked. "O-oh," she said, immediately opening up a word document to begin typing names into. "I'm sorry," she apologized, before shaking her head. "You can go ahead and start firing names now."

"Hannah," Seeley said gently, tugging one of Hannah's hands away from her laptop's keyboard. The action forced the blonde to look at the agent, whose eyes Hannah definitely knew were in "speculation" mode (as she liked to call it). "What's going on?"

She smiled, but she could feel her that her grin was tight and completely fake. "Nothing," she said.

"Hannah, quit lying," her fiancée commanded flatly.

The blonde blinked and then gave in. "It's just that –" she began, but then left her mouth open because she couldn't finish what she started. She sighed and tried again. "You're inviting your family, right?"

Seeley nodded, but his face clearly gave away that he was clearly suspicious. "Yes. Why?"

Trying to joke her way out of this, Hannah brightly said, "So, that means that I don't have to invite my family, right?" She grinned brightly, trying to encourage the idea.

The agent looked at her disappointedly. "Hannah, you _know_ how much this means to me. And you know how much it'd mean to me if I met your family." Hannah's smile disappeared, since it was clear that her family was coming either way to this damn wedding, whether she liked it or not apparently. "Baby, is there a reason why you don't want your family at our wedding?"

Hannah looked away from Booth, her head bowing slightly. "Kinda…" she finally muttered.

"Baby, I'm sure that –"

"No, Seeley, you don't understand," she huffed, turning back to her fiancée. "My family, were a _huge_ clan. And we're filthy rich. And I really do mean _filthy._ I was never comfortable with them and I don't talk to them much, especially because we were so goddamn rich. _They're the reason why I didn't want to marry because I have no choice but to include them at my wedding. And I don't want them there._"

By the end of it, Hannah was looking at Seeley gravely. Her fiancée was openly gaping at her, surprised by her reason.

"Baby, I'm sorry," Seeley said simply.

"Why?" she replied, knitting her eyebrows together. "The fact that I don't like my family isn't your fault; you have no reason to apologize." She smiled at him.

"It's just that…" he trailed off, looking into the distance for a moment. When he turned back to meet her eyes, the agent said, "If you don't want to invite your family, that's okay. It would make me a little disappointed on my part, I'll admit, but I'll get over it. I mean, if you're happier without them then –"

Hannah was so touched. Seeley really was too good. He just admitted that he wanted to meet her family but, if it made her happy not to see them, he was willing to avoid them with her. He didn't want to pressure her into anything she didn't want. The blonde felt horrible then, feeling completely selfish. All this time, she had been looking out for herself, avoiding her family because it made _her_ feel uncomfortable. And now she was denying Seeley a chance of meeting his fiancée's family, and she knew how much that meant to him.

The blonde leaned over and kissed her fiancée, cutting him off from whatever he was saying.

"You're much too kind," she whispered. Keeping him close, she continued, "If it makes you happy to meet them, then you'll meet them. I'm happy as long as I'm with _you_ Seeley, so if meeting my family is a really big deal for you, and it'll make _you_ happy, I'll invite 'em over." She smiled kindly at him then, and the grin that broke across his face made her smile wider.

Seeley took her into a hug. "Hannah, thank you! Thank you, baby!" he exclaimed, kissing the side of her head.

When they finally broke apart, Hannah sighed. "Well, let's get started," she said, turning back to her laptop. "Okay, let's begin with my immediate family: I'm one of 7 siblings, so me excluded, there's 6 people right there…"

To say the least, Hannah could tell the FBI agent was overwhelmed with the amount of people they ended up inviting by the end of their discussion. Their budget ended up growing to proportions they couldn't afford because of the amount of people they had to accommodate. But luckily, Hannah was able to call her parents that night. And when she mentioned that the _entire_ family was invited to her wedding, they announced that they were more than happy to take care of the couple's money worries.

**-x-x-x-**

Hannah stepped into the apartment and found Seeley standing right at the door, ready to leave.

"Baby, where you going?" she asked. The blonde had barely stepped into their apartment and her fiancée was already halfway out the door.

"You're cousin Eli just called. Said he was at the airport and needed a ride to your parents' hotel," he said quickly. He smiled apologetically and shrugged.

"Oh," Hannah said disappointed.

"I'm sorry, baby," Seeley said immediately. "We can call him and tell him to grab a taxi –"

The reporter just shook her head. "No, no. It's fine. Go pick him up," she replied.

Seeley stepped back into the apartment and kissed her briefly. Once on the nose and then once on the lips.

"I love you," he said once he reached the doorway.

She smiled back at him. "You too, babe," she responded, and with that Seeley was out the door and Hannah was left alone in the apartment.

The blonde sighed. _Well, there goes that backrub I was looking forward to coming home to…_

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

Booth's wedding was just 3 days away.

And Bones wasn't even _invited._

The anthropologist was honestly offended by this. She truly felt that the disturbance between her, Booth and Hannah really wasn't _that_ bad. They had one argument each, that's all! Her feelings aside, they should have been able to solve the problem like calm adults.

But they didn't.

The past few months, Hannah didn't call back Temperance _once_ and Booth did all he could to avoid Bones unless absolutely necessary.

(The latter depressed Brennan more than she wanted to admit.)

(And because the latter _did_ happen, Bones wasn't once able to talk to Booth about her lack of invitation. Temperance sighed.)

And during those awful months, the fact that Hannah and Booth were getting married just unsettled Bones more and more. She realized how strong the feelings she suppressed were. She realized how much she had actually _fallen_ for Booth. Which was just ridiculous because Temperance knew that she didn't physically _fall_ for Booth. No! That was ludicrous.

But with the way she felt whenever he was actually around her now felt just like she had. Every time Bones felt her coworker's presence, she actually felt _weak at the knees._ Like she was actually going to _collapse_ merely because he was standing so close to her. Like she needed his arms around her to hold her up. To keep her steady.

And it was even _more_ ridiculous when Brennan realized that the prospect of his arms wrapped tightly around her was something she desperately wanted. She wanted to hold him, too, though. She wanted to hold him and hopefully tell him how much he actually meant to her. And whatever she couldn't tell him verbally, she wanted to show, through kisses and touches and dates that she finally wanted to take up with him.

But she knew that she missed all her chances to do just that.

However, if another chance, _any chance,_ presented itself, Temperance knew that she would just clutch her heart and take it.

One chance, that's all she needed…

Then an idea hit her.

In 3 days, she'd get that one, final chance.

And right then and there, right in her living room apartment, Brennan resolved not to let it pass by her.

Bones immediately walked over to her bedroom – though with the speed she had, she may as well have been running – and went straight to her closet. Now that Temperance thought about it, it would have helped if she knew what the colour scheme was for the wedding so she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb within the throng of people who were attending. She needed to blend into the crowd while she waited out her chance. But she also needed to look presentable once her chance came. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if she came in completely under-dressed? When a once in a lifetime chance comes by, even Brennan knew that it would help if you actually _looked_ like you were ready to take it.

And, right then as she looked through her closet for the perfect attire, Bones knew she was definitely ready to take it. It terrified her, yes, but she was willing to take it.

_-==========-========== o / o ==========-==========-_

_**This is surely not how you thought it would be**_

_I lose myself in a day dream while I stand and say_

_-==========-========== o / o ==========-==========-_

Simply said, this was nothing compared to what Seeley Booth had pictured his wedding to be.

What he pictured was a simple outdoor wedding with a small crowd consisting of close family and friends. They'd pitch a giant tent next to the aisle and the reception would take place there. It was going to be beautiful and short and _simple._

Instead, here on his wedding day, he was somehow caught in a _HUMONGOUS_ wedding that took place indoors in a gigantic hotel, where in one hall he and Hannah were getting married and in another they were having their reception.

When Hannah explained to him her family was "huge and filthy rich", he had honestly underestimated her. He thought his _own_ family was huge; his mom had three other siblings and they had many children of their own. But Hannah's family? They could have created several, professional sports teams. And now, as they all gathered together in the gigantic hotel, her family easily filled the building, their chatter filling every inch of possible thinking space.

Which really bothered Booth because he _really_ needed some space to think.

He walked down the hall, stopping way too many times to count to greet or chat briskly to Hannah's relatives. As he strolled down, he took in the decorations, which were, well, definitely fancy. Okay, it was _much_ too intricate for the FBI agent's liking. He really should have thought twice when he allowed Hannah to take over decorations. He just said "it wouldn't matter what the decorations were because nothing would compare to how she looked that day" and left his fiancée to it. Seeley didn't realize that, with her parents' wealth, Hannah was going to go all out and choose the fanciest possible decorations. It wasn't that Booth thought it was ugly, God no. With the amount of money they (i.e.: her parents) were spending, they were definitely getting what they were giving. They just… didn't fit in with Booth's idea of his wedding: beautiful of course, but also simple enough that they were only barely noticeable because the even more beautiful bride should have overshadowed them. Actually, the décor was quite the opposite of that; it was so fancy and gorgeous and intricate that they were the _only_ thing you noticed. Booth had already received dozens of compliments on them that he had a disturbing, fleeting thought that people would be more impressed by _that_ than by the act of him marrying Hannah.

Seeley shrugged: 1) because he needed to get out of one of Hannah's uncle's grip; and 2) because he needed to shake off these troubling thoughts. What the hell, who cares about the decorations anyway, right? Right.

Booth eventually found a washroom, which was, thank goodness, empty, and he immediately locked himself in a stall. The agent put the toilet seat down, placed dozens of tissues over it and sat on the cover, praying to God that his suit wouldn't get ruined. He placed his elbows on his knees and buried his face into his hands. He took a deep breath.

Hannah was worth all this craziness, right? All the ridiculous decorations and her equally overwhelming family and the startling amount of money put into the wedding?

Of course, right, she _was_ worth it.

She _had_ to be.

_Are you sure she is?_ a small corner of his brain questioned. _Is she really _worth_ all this hassle?_

_Of course she is!_ Booth thought immediately, smacking his head as he did so. He was just having cold feet – that was it. This would pass soon. He just needed to have faith in him and Hannah. Him and Hannah…

Booth tried picturing a future with her, having little blonde kids running around the house they'd inevitably own together. He tried picturing her familiar grey eyes behind the thin, wiry eyeglass frames she'd eventually own once they were seniors.

But it was strange because the kids he imagined didn't have blonde hair – in fact, they had caramel hair. And the eyes he pictured behind the glasses weren't grey, but a pale, dreamy blue. And the images didn't stop there. He pictured small gatherings for birthdays and soccer games where a familiar voice carried over everyone else's, pushing her opinions over all other sounds. He pictured evenings where he ended up cooking because she ended up staying at work too long, putting every once of effort she had to give into yet _another_ case.

He pictured… Bones.

And he didn't want to stop picturing his life with her.

Oh God, what was he going to do?

* * *

><p>WUTWUT? IS SEELEY HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS? O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O<p>

Anyways, soooooo, I just want to apologize for the horrible lack of updates. I am now officially saying that there are _**no**_ guarantees to when I'll update, other than at least once or twice a month/every few weeks. I'm incredibly sorry, but that's the best I've got now. Perhaps it'll get as the summer passes on, since I'm pretty sure I'll have less sudden interruptions – but, again, no guarantees. I'm just eternally grateful that you guys are actually sticking around for this, SO THANK YOU FROM THE END OF OUR GALAXY AND BACK :''''D

But yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll stick around till the end of this fic! As always, please continue to review :D

x o x o bjaarcy

PS Does the length of this chapter make up for my lack of ability to update regularly? :3 Because, fun fact: this is the longest chapter to date!

PPS I really _do_ hope you enjoyed this chapter! I was able to include why Hannah didn't want to get hitched, a bit of wedding planning (like some of you wanted! See, I didn't forget ;D), but have also moved on to the actual wedding. Coming up next is more of the wedding; it probably won't be as long as this chapter, but it's going to focus solely on the wedding and it's gonna go on for a few chapters, so stick around :3


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